What's in your vise?

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Joe's Hopper
 
Moodah Poodah

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Cutt bait; can’t wait for the end of runoff. First time using a Klinkhammer hook; need to test it on local pond to see if it has enough weight to land the fly properly. If not, I’ll go back to the 3x heavy scud hook.

hook - WFC Model 30 #10
thread - Uni 8/0 fire orange
rib - H2O Twist orange
butt - UVX ET dubbing bright orange
body - Ice Dub shrimp pink
wing - Congo Hair cream
shellback/head - 2mm foam peach
legs - medium rubber corn snake
indicator - 1mm foam orange

Regards,
Scott
 
Sometimes mistakes have a way of working out. I’ve been using Arizona Semi-seal and Diamond Dub for a long time. Buying direct from John Rohmer Materials, not only is the price right but the wide variety of available colors is something you can’t find in a fly shop. About a month ago I placed a large order to refill some empty colors and somehow put a couple of colors of his Arizona Crystal Minnow Hair inadvertently in the cart. Didn’t need the stuff because I generally don’t tie or use those small synthetic bait fish patterns. On a whim, I thought I’d try the stuff to turn out a few small baitfish patterns and was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to tie with and how realistic the flies looked. As it comes in 32 shades, I just had to place another order to fill out the pallet. It is very supple and translucent in the water and flies can be blended with any combinations of shades imaginable. It also takes alcohol markers very well.

I’d tied up a few dozen before having an opportunity to try them on the water. “Where the fiber meets the water” to co-opt an oft stated metaphor, the results were exceptional. On the Gibbon and Firehole in YNP this last weekend, the trout literally ate them up. I anticipate they will also do well on the bigger SW Montana rivers this summer post run-off and will continue tie them up by the dozen.
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What it looks like wet!!
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Sometimes mistakes have a way of working out. I’ve been using Arizona Semi-seal and Diamond Dub for a long time. Buying direct from John Rohmer Materials, not only is the price right but the wide variety of available colors is something you can’t find in a fly shop. About a month ago I placed a large order to refill some empty colors and somehow put a couple of colors of his Arizona Crystal Minnow Hair inadvertently in the cart. Didn’t need the stuff because I generally don’t tie or use those small synthetic bait fish patterns. On a whim, I thought I’d try the stuff to turn out a few small baitfish patterns and was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to tie with and how realistic the flies looked. As it comes in 32 shades, I just had to place another order to fill out the pallet. It is very supple and translucent in the water and flies can be blended with any combinations of shades imaginable. It also takes alcohol markers very well.

I’d tied up a few dozen before having an opportunity to try them on the water. “Where the fiber meets the water” to co-opt an oft stated metaphor, the results were exceptional. On the Gibbon and Firehole in YNP this last weekend, the trout literally ate them up. I anticipate they will also do well on the bigger SW Montana rivers this summer post run-off and will continue tie them up by the dozen.
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What it looks like wet!!
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Good looking flies right there.
 
Twisted Foam Hopper

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Tied some furled foam Skwalas a while back but got the idea for using multiple strips from here. Need to play around a bit with the twisting to get a better taper, not that i think the fish care. Although those pre-cut strips used in the vid look neat, I’ve got lots of foam laying around so I did it myself.

hook - WFC Model 28 #8
thread - SemperFli 8/0 tan
body - 2mm x 2mm foam strips (twisted) tan/cream/orange/cinnamon
wing - Congo Hair cream
head - 2mm foam tan
legs - medium rubber corn snake
indicator - 1mm foam orange

Regards,
Scott
 
Tim’s Foam Beetle (variation)

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Wasn’t crazy about the tying sequence on the original so I poked a hole in the foam strip, brushed the hook shank with Super Glue and created the segmented body from the underside. Not my first choice for a hook (prefer something like an old Mustad 3906 or TMC 3769) but all of my heavy nymph hooks are elsewhere.

hook - Dai Riki 280 #6
thread - Uni 6/0 black
abdomen/shellback/head - Loco Foam beetle green
wing - Congo Hair cream
thorax - Ice Dub peacock black
legs - medium rubber black
indicator - 1mm foam orange

Regards,
Scott
 
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Been in an evolving relationship with rabbit strips. Love em on a full shank hook. Have absolutely mangled several flies trying to hitch the hook to the strip after spending a lot of time making a fairly complex tie. Today I spent some time and produced four dirty hoh chassis of shank, cone, strip, braid and hook. Took my time and lined up the hooks on the rabbit all proper, and didn't fuck a single composite loop up in the process.

Finished one up cuz I felt good. Someone says the upper skagit opens like, tomorrow? Get me to Gods country.

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